Ryan Welch
Tactics Instructor
Ryan Welch has been a San Diego Police Officer for 16 years and a senior Tactical Flight Officer in the SDPD Air Support Unit for over 8 years. He has amassed over 4,000 hours of flight time and specializes in airborne thermal imaging. As a Tactics Instructor for Tactical Flying, he is a subject matter expert on thermography and airborne law enforcement tactics and provides expert witness testimony services. Ryan has worked many different assignments during his career, including street patrol, criminal street gang enforcement and gang intervention. Additionally, Ryan has coached youth sports for over 15 years. Between his law enforcement experience and coaching tenure, Ryan is uniquely qualified to provide valuable insight to the airborne law enforcement industry. Combined with his extensive street and airborne law enforcement experience, Ryan is extremely proficient with the technology of surveillance aircraft and equipment. Whether it be a thermal imager, mapping system, downlinks or searchlights, he has no problem navigating his way around complex surveillance systems and tactical missions.
